All Things Are Possible!

The greatest movie of all time finally came out on DVD. And it only took 10 years! What better way to celebrate a quarter of a century on earth than to receive (cough, cough) this classic on DVD.

Aww, Ralphie!

Katy surprised me the other day with a fish. We haven't had any fish as pets since we moved in June. We have the skeleton of a 30-gallon tank, and even a spot for it in our new apartment, but we don't have the expendable income currently to invest in making that functional. We had been talking on and off for the last couple of months of getting a Betta (Japanese or Siamese Fighting Fish). Occasionally, I will look at places like target to see if they have large glass vases that would work. But Katy brought home a Betta as a surprise (which I didn't realize for over an hour after arriving home) and put it into a vase we already have. Shortly after realizing we had a fish, I started rearranging the fish into a different vase and futzing like I do.

We haven't really named him yet, but our best choice so far is Ralph. Sure, Ralph is the name we gave to the mountain lion we never saw this summer, but it seems safe to name our fish Ralph since the name never truly was given to a specific animal.

If you, or anyone you know, has a better name choice, let us know. But for now, we just call him Ralph.

All The "King's" Men . . .

. . . couldn't stop Rex from literally throwing the game away. All that the Superbowl proved to me is that Rex Grossman should not have been the starting quarterback for the Bears. Once Cedric Benson was out of the game, the offense needed some passing to be effective. The problem with a two-back offense is that one back is not used to carrying the load alone, and shouldn't have to. A Superbowl team should be able to rely on their quarterback to not throw two underthrown interceptions. Hey, interceptions happen, fumbles happen, missed extra points happen, even in Superbowls. But they usually happen because they were forced by the other team, not because of a lack of wisdom or skill.

Divine Encounter

Today, while working at Caribou, a customer called me over to sign as a witness on some forms he was filling out with a woman from the Army. He was a middle-aged man, so I wasn't quite sure what he would be signing with the Army. As they introduced themselves, the man made a joke, "You do realize that you are signing up to join the Army." He and the woman laughed, I pretended. As the woman flipped through some pages, I realized that it was going to take more than one signiature. I had to sign three times and put down my address. The woman would turn to the man occasionally to show him certain things. She pointed to a large number and made sure that was the amount that was on the check she had given him. On another page, I saw the term "Life Insurance" as part of the title to the paperwork. My mind wandered trying to understand what I was signing for this man. Then, he had to initial twice in places where it said "Father." The options were narrowing in my head.

I returned to work while they finished up the rest of the paperwork. Right before they left, the woman went out to her car and came back in with something in her hand. She handed the man a framed picture, to which he thanked her as his eyes teared up. He just stared at the photo for a minute or two before coming back from his thoughts. At that point I fully realized that I had been a witness that this father had received the life insurance payout for the loss of his child in the line of duty.

"He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted . . . to comfort all who mourn . . ."

The End of a City

We found out some very sad information yesterday. By the end of this year, Loome's Bookstore in downtown Stillwater will be closed. It will still have the church store (the largest theological bookstore in at least North America). So there will be only 3 bookstores in town: the church, the small one with the really cool bird cage, and the last antiquarian bookstore in Stillwater. Apparently, there used to be over 25 bookstores in town.

Maybe Stillwater can no longer be called a Book Town.

Automated World of Crap

Bathrooms are now designed so that you don't have to touch anything. Toilets and urinals flush automatically. Toilet seat covers rotate automatically. Faucets turn on and off automatically. Hand driers and paper towel dispensers are automatic. So with everything automatic, why hasn't anyone done the oldest automation in the book - an automatic door. Sure, you can open a door without using your hands, but you can, in strange ways, use everything else in the bathroom without using your hands as well.

So I'm looking forward to the day when you step on a rubberized platform and the bathroom door opens while an annoying fan blows down on you hard enough to mess up your hair.

Snot Flow Ends Money Flow

I had to call in sick for today. I have a cough and cold, which normally wouldn't keep me out of work, but a) I am only getting worse and b) I work in the food industry. Most people don't want the person making their coffee to be dripping with snot, sneezing, or coughing around their drink. So, even though I had the last two days off, I had to take today off as well.

Being sick was a lot more fun when it kept me out of school instead of keeping me out of work.